Grads-to-be getting a crash course in landing a job

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STEVE PFOST / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Christine Nicholson, a broadcast journalism student at the University of Texas at Arlington, works with professor Julian Rodriguez in the school's newsroom. She has been preparing for graduation by interning at a local TV station and sending out résumés.

Christine Nicholson worked in marketing for several years before she returned to college to realize a dream: to become a news reporter.

The Euless resident will graduate from the University of Texas at Arlington on May 12. Being a veteran of the workforce, she is prepared: She is an intern at a local television station and has an interview scheduled with a station in Sherman this week.

“I’ve been sending out résumés and visiting every news station in the area — even those up to two hours away,” the Haltom High graduate, now 36, said. “The one thing I’ve been told is that it’s competitive.”

No doubt.

As the job market slowly returns from the depths of the recession, many industries are once again hiring. Soon-to-be graduates and those just out of work have room for optimism. But, as Nicholson has learned, it’s competitive.

The U.S. economy has added almost 800,000 jobs since December, allowing optimists and job seekers a slowly rising confidence that the economic recovery is solidly under way, even if it is taking its sweet time. Unemployment edged down to 8.2 percent nationally in March and 30 states recorded decreases in unemployment rates.

In Texas, employers have been hiring at a pace among the fastest: more than 100,000 jobs added in the state so far this year and 245,000 added in the past 12 months. Texas unemployment is now down to 7 percent, as it is in North Texas. Employers in the Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington area have added 70,000 jobs in the past year.

Even more important, job growth here and around Texas has also been broad, with retailers, wholesalers, business and professional services, hotels, restaurants, manufacturers, banks, accounting firms, health services and oilfield companies adding workers.

But, no matter your field, there are good prospects for jobs if you know how to look, according to those eyeing the market.

Cheri Butler, who runs the Career Center at UTA, says students and job seekers sometimes miss the obvious.

An architectural student might find open positions are scarce at the several dozen architectural firms in Dallas-Fort Worth. But they might find manufacturers, medical centers, airports or transportation companies hiring those professionals.

“You have to look in the industries that are hiring,” Butler said. “It’s not always obvious.”

She said that companies seeking workers most recently are in the health care, technology, some construction and various business management areas.

“Supply chain-logistics,” she said. “Huge.”

That the health care field is hiring is good news to Tina Mendez, who taught pre-kindergarten in Dallas schools until she was laid off in December. She is now searching for a job in education or health care, where she is certified as a nurse assistant.

“It’s not easy,” she said last week, adding that she is having trouble finding a job that will meet her salary expectations. “The jobs that are out there don’t pay anything.”

Slow going

If Mendez is patient, though, she may soon find something that fits her skills and her budget. Health services companies in Texas added almost 50,000 jobs in the past year.

“It’s slower than everybody wants it to be, but it’s steady,” said Theresa Maher, vice president of media affairs at Jobing.com.

The website lists job openings by region. So it provides a sampling of the local companies and industries that have openings.

In recent days the site has listed jobs that parallel industry hiring.

Governments are also hiring. The cities of Fort Worth, Frisco, Allen, Coppell and Grand Prairie have a total of 97 jobs listed for everything from budget analysts to sanitation workers.

The federal government is also hiring.

“Baby boomers are retiring in droves,” UTA’s Butler said.

That should be encouraging for Britton Carmony, 24, who will soon graduate from El Centro of the Dallas County Community College District and wants a job as a social worker with child protective services, a nursing home or children with special needs. She is now working part time at Homeward Bound, a substance abuse treatment facility.

“It’s not the best-paying job, but I’m sticking it out because it will look good on my résumé.”

The federal openings are expected in medical and public health (54,000 expected openings from 2010 through 2012), security and protection (52,000 openings), compliance and enforcement (31,000 openings) and administration and program management (17,300 openings).

Changing course

Of course, the experts suggest that, as Nicholson and Carmony have done, students and applicants should have experience in their chosen field.

Erick Baez, 23, a culinary arts student at El Centro, is working part time at Whole Foods Market while he finishes school.

“It’s what I enjoy right now,” he said, adding that he may consider management positions after he’s served some time in the kitchen.

“Restaurants and hotels and resorts want to hire people who already have experience.”

Perhaps the most effective job preparation tactic used is by those who have returned to school to freshen up skills, redirect their career arc or get the training they’ve always felt they needed.

Kristin Carter, 29, and Elizabeth Rose, 32, both of Arlington, and Kimberlee Williams, 40, of Grand Prairie have all returned to school to get their registered nurse certification after working as health aides, nursing assistants or other health care jobs.

“This stint has taken almost three years,” Williams said of her career redirection away from teaching.

“It’s a calling to a different kind of service.”

Some new graduates may have to take lesser-skilled jobs that pay less in order to make ends meet, according to a recent analysis of Bureau of Labor Statistics data.

While the situation in Texas isn’t as dire, that examination found that nationally half of college graduates under age 25 are unemployed or underemployed for their skills, according to the analysis performed by Northwestern University for The Associated Press. That data was also supplemented by material from Paul Harrington, an economist at Drexel University, and the Economic Policy Institute, a Washington think tank.

For those who don’t have college, the outlook is less than rosy.

Juan Cardenas, 21, sought the assistance of the Texas Workforce Commission a couple of weeks ago to get a job in retail after having been laid off from GameStop.

He’s had a few calls, but is learning some tough lessons about tenacity and ego.

“It kind of hurts when somebody has a job opening and then they don’t hire you,” he said.

The answer is to be prepared, the experts say.

Nicholson has created a website to tout her experience, portfolio of work and skills.

Her fellow student and workmate Stephanie Knefel, 23, who also graduates next month, has a particular viewpoint on the job market.

“I think that anyone who is smart is looking for a job all the time,” she said.

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